I have a question that affects all school age parents—unless they are being home schooled. Is it okay for a child to miss school for a personal trip? I know what the schools say—no way! But if your child rarely misses school for any reason, and a special opportunity comes along, what do you do? First of all, do you say yes or no to the trip? And then, what do you tell the school? If you tell the truth, then the child cannot make up any missed work or tests. But if you as a parent decide to tell the school that the child is sick, you put the child in a position of lying also.

I have a hard time with this. What do you think?

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I have a son who is 13 and has, to this point, been shy and a bit socially immature. We made the decision back in kindergarten to go ahead and send him to school at the appropriate age even though many parents with younger boys held them back a year. I’ll have to admit that our decision has put him at a disadvantage in many ways because he has had to compete with kids mostly a year or more older than him. I’ve had friends with older kids tell me that I should feel grateful that he is a late bloomer and that it will serve him well as he navigates the teen years. I know he sometimes wishes he was more active socially, but I also believe that he’s a smart kid who knows when he should step back and not do the things he’s uncomfortable with. At this point, he’s happy to be home with us, enjoying his family, although I know this will all change too quickly. Does anyone out there have a child who matured later and could share your thoughts about the social aspect of this? I’d love the feedback!

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Has anyone seen My Super Sweet 16 ? (I think it's on MTV. )My kids love that show, and I think it is complete TRASH!

First of all I find it so hard to believe that there are actually parents out there who will do this for their children. Regardless of your financial situation,  those parents who support this must be VERY insecure.

When my kids friends come over they all seem to know about it and  watch it regularly. I tell them if we had a Billion $$ sitting on our bed, they still would never have a party like that.

What does everyone else think?

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I just read the news story on the Connect With Kids website about child identity theft. One more reminder that you can never let your guard down! I always think I am being careful, but this is something I haven’t thought about! What a shame to think you could start off with bad credit before you actually ever get a credit card!!

Every once in a while I will lament the “good old days”, when I was growing up. As I’m sure my parents, and their parents did. But safety in most areas really is all about paying attention. Listening to, or reading the news, talking to other parents, coming onto websites like this is an important part of being a parent. The really hard part is getting our kids to pay attention. “Yeah Mom, sure, whatever you say,” – these phrases are not good dialog! If it’s important, I make them look me in the eye while I’m talking to them!

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My kids started back to school today, with a loud chorus of moans and groans. The break did seem especially short this time. Both of mine have slowly but surely gotten into the groove of sleeping late on their off days. I remember my teen years--- I could have won an award for sleeping in!

When they were babies, I had the early risers and short nappers. They were good babies, but they didn’t seem to need a lot of sleep. It is funny how that changes in the tween years. After I had totally adjusted my sleeping habits, their bodies decide sleep is such a great thing! They are already talking about how in college they will only take afternoon classes (good luck!). I’m glad to hear that college is on their list of things to do!

What they can’t see is that it never gets any easier to start back after a break. I think that my friends have moaned just as loudly about starting back to work after the holidays. Maybe we never grow out of that phase of teenage life. It’s so nice to pull the covers up over your head!

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I think it is funny that my 13-year-old likes the same music I listened to when I was a teen. Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, The Rolling Stones--- all the old guys! I know the words! He has a Jimi Hendrix poster on his wall. I grew up with the generational music gap. My parents didn’t complain too much, but they just didn’t get it.

There is lots of stuff I don’t get—baggy, saggy pants, slouching around, and video games. That’s the short list. At least I understand turning the music up loud and dancing around playing air guitar. My kids would be mortified if I did it in front of their friends, but when it’s just us, we rock!

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